Discussion
Had a lovely day pottering at the workshop today. I sorted out the rear deck with some NVH stuff and have asked the wife to whip me up a nice lightweight carpet set from acoustic cloth. Should look better than the bare metal, will cut out some of the boominess but weigh in at next to nothing.
Michael gave the new wheels a lick of paint. He hates them I think but I think they're well swank. Going to look great with the A048s on.
ta da
Work starts on front end tomorrow. Should be good.
Michael gave the new wheels a lick of paint. He hates them I think but I think they're well swank. Going to look great with the A048s on.
ta da
Work starts on front end tomorrow. Should be good.
Mrs Benjj has recently done a sewing and craft course so I drafted her in for some bespoke rennsport carpet set manufacturing. She's done blooming well in my opinion.
I stood around smoking tabs and making unhelpful comments.
We started with a camping roll mat. Perfect base material. Light but holds it's shape so template cut and ready.
Then glued to some acoustic cloth. Light and hard wearing.
Then she trimmed the cloth and made little cuts so it would fold over and create some tension.
Spray adhesive on the back and she folded it all over. Starting to come together.
Weighs about the same as a can of Coke.
Finished item looking like it came from the factory. Really, really happy. Top wife!
And in the car.
Job done. She's well up for it (fnar) so going to do some more of this over the next few weeks. Think transmission tunnel next and maybe some bespoke doorcards with simple pull straps.
I stood around smoking tabs and making unhelpful comments.
We started with a camping roll mat. Perfect base material. Light but holds it's shape so template cut and ready.
Then glued to some acoustic cloth. Light and hard wearing.
Then she trimmed the cloth and made little cuts so it would fold over and create some tension.
Spray adhesive on the back and she folded it all over. Starting to come together.
Weighs about the same as a can of Coke.
Finished item looking like it came from the factory. Really, really happy. Top wife!
And in the car.
Job done. She's well up for it (fnar) so going to do some more of this over the next few weeks. Think transmission tunnel next and maybe some bespoke doorcards with simple pull straps.
Yes, lots, but they're the NSFW private sort 
Cage: ha, knew that would stump you! It's a Protection & Performance one. Someone stuck a SD sticker on and it just won't come off so it's still on. May soak it off with WD40.
As it happens a kids parents in my daughter's class owns Protection & Performance and the dad wasn't impressed when he saw that sticker when I was doing the Blomqvist school run one day!
Cage: ha, knew that would stump you! It's a Protection & Performance one. Someone stuck a SD sticker on and it just won't come off so it's still on. May soak it off with WD40.
As it happens a kids parents in my daughter's class owns Protection & Performance and the dad wasn't impressed when he saw that sticker when I was doing the Blomqvist school run one day!
GC8 said:
Is it the bolt to anchorages thing that Pete Sherratt sorted out a few years ago? I did think that it looked like it (or that style, certainly) but the SD decal threw me. When I first saw one in 2008 I was surprised by the price, which would've bought most of a RCR front and rear, along with door bars and fitting kit...
I did something similar, but used 1mm HDPE sheet. Almost brilliant, but not quite... I was trying to cover the wheel arch voids as well, though.
Quite possibly. I bought it used from a guy in Northampton so it's come back to near where it was born.I did something similar, but used 1mm HDPE sheet. Almost brilliant, but not quite... I was trying to cover the wheel arch voids as well, though.
Do you know Peter? He's helping me get to grips will hillclimbing. First event in the 944 at Harewood on July 4th. Can't wait.
A bit of a report on last weekend's hillclimbing activities...
The run up to the weekend of my very first hillclimb was a bit fraught. A noticeable wheel wobble under braking had developed and a quick glance indicated that I'd got 2 warped discs. They'd only gone on 1000 miles previously so assumed some kind of manufacturing issue. So 2 days before Harewood the new parts arrived and we started to swap them over at the workshop.
Sadly it turned out to be that both front hubs had warped and we had a nasty case of runout. Not great. Fortunately I had a spare pair of hubs in the stores so we swapped them over, put on new discs and pads anyway and all was fine. The car rolled out of the garage 12 hours before the event
Also on went the new wheels (deep dish 951 15'' teledials) and tyres - Yokohama A048 medium compound 205/60/15s.
The Yokos are a fantastic tyre. They look similar to a Toyo R888 but they're markedly different. The 888 is a modified tread road tyre but the Yoko is a true racing carcass with incredibly stiff sidewalls. This is a bit of a coup when you run a weird size like us - I was one of the very few cars out of 113 entries running more than a 45/50 profile tyre.
I had the Friday evening to prep the car at home - basically emptying out all the rally crap and potential missiles like the wheel brace etc. Even managed to give drag a wet rag over it and slap on my race numbers. I was quite chuffed to draw No. 99.
Come Saturday morning I met up with my internet friend Peter who had been a big help with info in the run up to my very first hillclimb (are you on here, Peter?) and got over nice and early to walk the track.
The weather was gnarly - low misty cloud and near permanent rain. I knew on the way over that the Yokos were really struggling in these conditions, even at normal road speeds.
And so in the blink of an eye I was lining up for my very first practice run with rain coming down - light fine rain but relentless.
Like an idiot I absolutely nailed it off the start line, bringing the revs up to 4k and just dumping the clutch. In the dry this is the perfect way, but in the rain on semi slicks still covered in release compound it meant that as the clock ticked past 3 seconds I was still looking at the startline marshals with my rear tyres just spinning. What a cretin!
Then round the first right hander and down the hill to the esses. I dabbed the brake gingerly and the back stepped out by about 30 degrees. Oops. That set the tone for the first run, just nursing the car around the course and trying to learn the lines.
Being a competitive chap I'd asked Peter for a target for my first event. He told me he know of a bloke who has been running a 944S (faster than mine) at Harewood for a few years and managed to crack a 76sec run. I was hoping to smash that on my first practice (!) so you can imagine how great I felt when I crossed the finish line in a mere 94 seconds. b
ks.
The weather and tyres played a massive part in that as even under light brakes the back end was stepping out. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them.
45 mins later and I was ready for practice 2. It was still wet but a dry line was starting to appear in places. This is that run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LUTrzblThM
The car was still pretty loose on almost every corner and was wagging the tail under brakes. Was a bit easier now I knew the course better so I managed to knock 10 seconds off my run sticking in an 84 in wet conditions. Was a bit happier with that but knew there was more to come.
Sadly no more GoPro footage as some div (me) forgot to charge it up fully...
After a break for lunch we started the competitive runs. The first of which you'd consider to be damp, the last 2 in full dry.
Run 1 - 79
Run 2 - 77
Run 3 - 75
And that was that. I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't get down to 70 dead but soon got over myself when I remembered that I'd managed to beat a bloke in a faster 944 with a few seasons experience on my very first go.
Being completely realistic I KNOW that there is a load more time to come out of the car with no mods. In fact I'd be very surprised if I couldn't trim 8 seconds off in dry conditions. That would please me a great deal.
So I'm going to go back again on Aug 1/2 for another crack at it. Crack is in fact a very good word because hillclimbing is as addictive as it. If you've never had a go just do it, it really is that fun.
The run up to the weekend of my very first hillclimb was a bit fraught. A noticeable wheel wobble under braking had developed and a quick glance indicated that I'd got 2 warped discs. They'd only gone on 1000 miles previously so assumed some kind of manufacturing issue. So 2 days before Harewood the new parts arrived and we started to swap them over at the workshop.
Sadly it turned out to be that both front hubs had warped and we had a nasty case of runout. Not great. Fortunately I had a spare pair of hubs in the stores so we swapped them over, put on new discs and pads anyway and all was fine. The car rolled out of the garage 12 hours before the event
Also on went the new wheels (deep dish 951 15'' teledials) and tyres - Yokohama A048 medium compound 205/60/15s.
The Yokos are a fantastic tyre. They look similar to a Toyo R888 but they're markedly different. The 888 is a modified tread road tyre but the Yoko is a true racing carcass with incredibly stiff sidewalls. This is a bit of a coup when you run a weird size like us - I was one of the very few cars out of 113 entries running more than a 45/50 profile tyre.
I had the Friday evening to prep the car at home - basically emptying out all the rally crap and potential missiles like the wheel brace etc. Even managed to give drag a wet rag over it and slap on my race numbers. I was quite chuffed to draw No. 99.
Come Saturday morning I met up with my internet friend Peter who had been a big help with info in the run up to my very first hillclimb (are you on here, Peter?) and got over nice and early to walk the track.
The weather was gnarly - low misty cloud and near permanent rain. I knew on the way over that the Yokos were really struggling in these conditions, even at normal road speeds.
And so in the blink of an eye I was lining up for my very first practice run with rain coming down - light fine rain but relentless.
Like an idiot I absolutely nailed it off the start line, bringing the revs up to 4k and just dumping the clutch. In the dry this is the perfect way, but in the rain on semi slicks still covered in release compound it meant that as the clock ticked past 3 seconds I was still looking at the startline marshals with my rear tyres just spinning. What a cretin!
Then round the first right hander and down the hill to the esses. I dabbed the brake gingerly and the back stepped out by about 30 degrees. Oops. That set the tone for the first run, just nursing the car around the course and trying to learn the lines.
Being a competitive chap I'd asked Peter for a target for my first event. He told me he know of a bloke who has been running a 944S (faster than mine) at Harewood for a few years and managed to crack a 76sec run. I was hoping to smash that on my first practice (!) so you can imagine how great I felt when I crossed the finish line in a mere 94 seconds. b
ks.The weather and tyres played a massive part in that as even under light brakes the back end was stepping out. Those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them.
45 mins later and I was ready for practice 2. It was still wet but a dry line was starting to appear in places. This is that run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LUTrzblThM
The car was still pretty loose on almost every corner and was wagging the tail under brakes. Was a bit easier now I knew the course better so I managed to knock 10 seconds off my run sticking in an 84 in wet conditions. Was a bit happier with that but knew there was more to come.
Sadly no more GoPro footage as some div (me) forgot to charge it up fully...
After a break for lunch we started the competitive runs. The first of which you'd consider to be damp, the last 2 in full dry.
Run 1 - 79
Run 2 - 77
Run 3 - 75
And that was that. I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't get down to 70 dead but soon got over myself when I remembered that I'd managed to beat a bloke in a faster 944 with a few seasons experience on my very first go.
Being completely realistic I KNOW that there is a load more time to come out of the car with no mods. In fact I'd be very surprised if I couldn't trim 8 seconds off in dry conditions. That would please me a great deal.
So I'm going to go back again on Aug 1/2 for another crack at it. Crack is in fact a very good word because hillclimbing is as addictive as it. If you've never had a go just do it, it really is that fun.
No bit I did get a list of prices. Have got them filed away somewhere. The spare wheel doberry was £130 from memory.
The next expense will be some bespoke panels. The workshop has a new tenant who builds panels for classics and racers. He's going to make me up a lightweight alloy set of front wings, bonnet, doorskins and roofskin.
Timing will depend on cost but front wings will be first to happen. He's a proper old school English wheeler so they'll be completely spanking.
The next expense will be some bespoke panels. The workshop has a new tenant who builds panels for classics and racers. He's going to make me up a lightweight alloy set of front wings, bonnet, doorskins and roofskin.
Timing will depend on cost but front wings will be first to happen. He's a proper old school English wheeler so they'll be completely spanking.
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